September 2014 Posts

Getting to Fall Fest

Sep 14, 2014 No Comments

Saturday, September 20th is the date for the 30th annual Fall Fest in Chester Park. Rain Date is Sunday the 21st. With construction happening right outside the park entrance, getting to Fall Fest will be a little different this year.

Chester-Bowl-Road-Map

Click the map to see it larger.

If you’re not walking to Chester Bowl that day, everyone is strongly encouraged to park and take the free shuttle buses from UMD’s Lot B, next to the Administration building, at College & University. (See map) Road and bridge repairs continue immediately west of the Chester Bowl Park entrance thereby limiting access to just the eastern entrance. Pedestrians can enter from the east side, but Skyline Parkway will also be closed to cars from the east starting at Kent Road on the day of the event. Parking is prohibited along Skyline Parkway after Kent Road.

PDD will be at Fall Fest again this year in our luxurious canopy, giving away stickers, selling t-shirts, and whatever other shenanigans we devise between now and next Saturday. Look for us next to the playground.

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Events, Outdoors, Recommendations

Freediving for Agates

Sep 14, 2014 2 Comments

August of this summer. This beach slopes off sharply just past the surf to like a 45 degree angle, so swimming out in a succession of dives quickly takes you deeper. Max in this video 15 feet? Not far from shore at all, undisclosed location. The dolphin-y noise @ 19 secs is air escaping from the camera pole. The mechanical drone in the background is an ore boat a couple/few miles away in the shipping lanes, which can also be heard in the first couple minutes of my recent vid Diving Among the Boulders and What I Found There.


Outdoors, Videos , ,

Lolling across West Duluth and overseas

Sep 13, 2014 No Comments

Loll Designs is moving its production facilities to 59th Avenue West and Waseca Street.

Duluth News Tribune: Loll Designs growing and on the move in Duluth

I bought several Epicurean chopping boards and a trivet where I live now in England over the years at various stockists. They’re great! Hopefully more product lines will be available. Just returned from Denmark and was chuffed to see Epicurean products in Copenhagen’s grandest department store, Magasin du Nord. It would be brilliant if Epicurean/Loll’s webshop could accept payments from international debit/credit cards and customers so I could Xmas shop online for Stateside relatives.

Oh, and every time I see my neighbor’s resin patio table and chairs in our shared back garden, I want to heave. God give me Loll Designs!


News and Current Affairs

Perfect Coffee Shop: Beaner’s Central

Sep 12, 2014 5 Comments

PDDPerfectCoffeeShopAwardLogoA rash of new coffee joints have opened up in Duluth in recent years, but an old favorite was the clear winner in Perfect Duluth Day’s poll to name the best coffee shop. Beaner’s Central Concert Coffeehouse has been as much known for its live music and friendly vibe over the past 15 years as it has for the Alakef-roasted java blends served there daily. Not to mention the baked goods, soups, sandwiches, pizzas, random experimental breakfasts, beers, wines, art exhibitions, basement recording studio and whatever else the affable and eccentric owner and founder Jason Wussow decides to offer next. It’s no wonder Beaner’s dominated with 50 percent of the vote in the three-way race for Duluth’s coffee-shop crown.

Beaner's Central Concert Coffeehouse Jason Wussow - Beaner's Central Concert Coffeehouse Beaners Exterior 2013

Jefferson People’s House, which opened just three months before our poll, gave a strong second place performance with 28 percent of the vote. The not-quite-two-year-old Duluth Coffee Co. cafe and roasterie also performed well, pulling in 22 percent of the vote.

PDD Awards Index


Polls, Recommendations , ,

Split Rock Review, Fall 2014

Sep 11, 2014 No Comments

Violet 18The online literary magazine, Split Rock Review, recently released the Fall 2014 issue. Also, SRR is now accepting submissions of poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, book reviews, graphic narratives, visual poetry, digital literature, and hybrid forms.

For more information about the magazine and submission guidelines, please visit the SRR website.


Art , ,

Rail sessions across Duluth

Sep 11, 2014 2 Comments

Featuring Cody Nehniba, Wilson Robinson, Tyler Murto, Kyle Juntunen and Isiah England.


Videos

Quick Change

Sep 10, 2014 No Comments

A la 1970s Wonder Woman.


Outdoors, Videos

Venus DeMars embraces Sacred Heart

Sep 10, 2014 No Comments

Venus DeMars has been busy. After finishing a national your with Against Me!, DeMars returns to her hometown on Saturday for a concert at Sacred Heart, where she will record her first acoustic album. In this interview, she explains how her new album will be a culmination of her musical experiences.


Music ,

Wildlife News

Sep 09, 2014 No Comments

Some updates from Wildwoods Rehabilitation:

There are three window-strike bird victims in residence — a northern flicker, a juvenile cedar waxwing, and a flycatcher. The flicker came in with a spinal bruise, and was unable to use his legs for several days. Fortunately, he’s made a full recovery after rest and anti-swelling meds, and is ready for release. In the meantime, he’s been pigging out on the mealworms, and has plumped out, just in time for migration, when he’ll need the energy!

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Outdoors , , ,

Toasty’s on East Ninth now open

Sep 09, 2014 7 Comments

ToastysNight_MG_9732

The sign on the building has been up since last Spring, and now Toasty’s is open.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily
Address: 1032 E. Ninth St.
Owners: Rachael and Tom Hagen

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Restaurants

Best Coffee Shop in the Duluth Area Poll (Final Ballot)

Sep 09, 2014 No Comments

In our elimination round poll we pitted 11 coffee shops against each other. The top three now do battle in this contest to answer the question …

What is the best coffee shop in the Duluth area?

Loading ... Loading ...

This poll is now closed. There results were:

Beaner’s Central Concert Coffeehouse – 50.4 percent
Jefferson People’s House – 27.8 percent
Duluth Coffee Co. – 21.8


Polls, Recommendations , , ,

Duluth Sunrise Silhouette

Sep 08, 2014 No Comments

Duluth Sunrise Silhouette

Photo by Manny Villanueva, shot this morning.


Photos

Hey, sometimes a mushroom is just a mushroom

Sep 08, 2014 3 Comments

nubber


Outdoors ,

News about the arts from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council

Sep 08, 2014 No Comments

Various bits for local artists, arts consumers, and art organizations:

  • The next ARAC grant deadline is Oct. 31. The grant programs included in this deadline are: Two-year Operating Support for organizations, Rural and Community Art Grants for organizations and Career Development Grants for individual artists. Online applications for these grant programs will be available Sept. 19. ARAC will also be holding grant writing workshops on these programs in the weeks prior to the deadline.
  • ARAC is accepting nominations for the 17th annual Arrowhead Arts Awards. The awards were developed to recognize individuals who have made important contributions to the arts in the region. ARAC gives out two awards each year: The George Morrison Artist Award and the Maddie Simons Advocate Award. The purpose of the awards is to recognize the work and contributions of individual artists and arts administrators, as well as raise the profile of arts in their communities. Nominations must be postmarked by Nov. 14.
  • View the calendar of ARAC-funded events at aracouncil.org.

Art

This week: birding, chili and trout fishing

Sep 08, 2014 2 Comments

cal-header

Here’s a sampling of what you have to look forward to this week on the PDD Calendar.

It’s harvest time and that means a lot of action in area farmers’ markets (Downtown,  UMD, East Hillside, Lincoln Park, West Duluth, and Two Harbors) and this week the Second Harvest Northern Lakes Food Bank is looking for volunteers to help pick fresh produce.

On Tuesday there is a trifecta of business presentations with David Jaffe, CEO of the company that controls Maurices, speaking at Weber, Brian Hanson, CEO of APEX, at Clyde Iron, and Danielle Thralow, creator of binoculars.com, peepers.com and telescope.com, at WITC.

They say it’s going to get chilly this week by Wednesday, and we’re going to get chili on Thursday with the United Way Chili Cook-Off at the DECC. Yeah, I went for the obvious pun. Sue me.

Starting this Friday Clinton Nienhaus will be leading early morning birding strolls starting at Duluth Sky Harbor. These weekly walks will go through the end of October.

Venus DeMars (after a prolonged struggle with the Minnesota Department of Revenue over whether or not she’s an artist) performs as court-sanctioned, bona fide artist at Sacred Heart on Saturday.

The Red Herring Lounge celebrates the life and works of Richard Brautigan on Sunday with Trout Fishing in Duluth.

So what are you doing this week? Can we tag along? Any upcoming events that you want to promote? Let us know.


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